Audits that have turned up more than $680 million so far in Medicare payment errors started slowly in the first year, a new report shows. More recent data suggest auditors have grown more aggressive as the program prepares to expand. The first report to Congress on Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor Program, released in late September covering the federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2009, provides an overview of auditors' first year as federal officials move to broaden audits under Medicare and expand them to Medicaid, and as Congress seeks ways to further curb federal spending.
FULL STORY »